ArticlePloS one2013
Direct electric current treatment under physiologic saline conditions kills Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms via electrolytic generation of hypochlorous acid.
Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 40 papers.
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Who cites it
40 citing papers in PubMed, 82 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Adding Electrolysis Device to Standard Methods of Maintaining Oral Hygiene in Patients with Fixed Orthodontic Appliance.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Urinary catheters: state of the art and future perspectives - a narrative review.Materials today. Bio · 2025Review
- Pulse Lavage and Electrical Fields to Remove Biofilms from Cobalt-Chrome Surfaces: AnBioelectricity · 2025Article
- Electric Current Application on Dental Implant Biofilms: Review.Journal of functional biomaterials · 2024Review
- Isolation of phages against Streptococcus species in the oral cavity for potential control of dental diseases and associated systemic complications.Archives of microbiology · 2024Article
- Cathodic voltage-controlled electrical stimulation and betadine decontaminate nosocomial pathogens from implant surfaces.mSphere · 2024Article
- Bioelectricity in dental medicine: a narrative review.Biomedical engineering online · 2024Review
- Ultrasound-Driven On-Demand Transient Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Subcutaneous Antibacterial Activity.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2023Article
- Article
- Electroceutical treatment of infected chronic wounds in a dog and a cat.Veterinary surgery : VS · 2022Article
- Direct current exerts electricidal and bioelectric effects on Porphyromonas gingivalis biofilms partially via promoting oxidative stress and antibiotic transport.Journal of microbiology (Seoul, Korea) · 2022Article
- Article
- Comparisons of the killing effect of direct current partially mediated by reactive oxygen species onJournal of dental sciences · 2022Article
- Approaches for Mitigating Microbial Biofilm-Related Drug Resistance: A Focus on Micro- and Nanotechnologies.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Investigation of different electrochemical cleaning methods on contaminated healing abutments in vitro: an approach for metal surface decontamination.International journal of implant dentistry · 2020Article
- Hypochlorous acid-generating electrochemical scaffold eliminates Candida albicans biofilms.Journal of applied microbiology · 2020Article
- Printed Electroceutical Dressings for the Inhibition of Biofilms and Treatment of Chronic Wounds.Journal of microelectromechanical systems : a joint IEEE and ASME publication on microstructures, microactuators, microsensors, and microsystems · 2020Article
- Ultrastructure imaging of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lawn biofilms and eradication of the tobramycin-resistant variants under in vitro electroceutical treatment.Scientific reports · 2020Article
- Electrochemical methods to enhance osseointegrated prostheses.Biomedical engineering letters · 2020Review
- The Effect of In Vitro Electrolytic Cleaning on Biofilm-Contaminated Implant Surfaces.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the mechanism by which a direct electrical current reduced the viability of Staphylococcus epidermidis biofilms in conjunction with ciprofloxacin at physiologic saline conditions meant to approximate those in an infected artificial joint. Biofilms grown in CDC biofilm reactors were exposed to current for 24 hours in 1/10(th) strength tryptic soy broth containing 9 g/L total NaCl. Dose-dependent log reductions up to 6.7 log(10) CFU/cm(2) were observed with the application of direct current at all four levels (0.7 to 1.8 mA/cm(2)) both in the presence and absence of ciprofloxacin. There were no significant differences in log reductions for wells with ciprofloxacin compared to those without at the same current levels. When current exposures were repeated without biofilm or organics in the medium, significant generation of free chlorine was measured. Free chlorine doses equivalent to the 24 hour endpoint concentration for each current level were shown to mimic killing achieved by current application. Current exposure (1.8 mA/cm(2)) in medium lacking chloride and amended with sulfate, nitrate, or phosphate as alternative electrolytes produced diminished kills of 3, 2, and 0 log reduction, respectively. Direct current also killed Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms when NaCl was present. Together these results indicate that electrolysis reactions generating hypochlorous acid from chloride are likely a main contributor to the efficacy of direct current application. A physiologically relevant NaCl concentration is thus a critical parameter in experimental design if direct current is to be investigated for in vivo medical applications.
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Registered trials
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